Thank you Carl for that introduction. Its good to be back
in Americas heartland.

Good afternoon everyone. Its a pleasure for me to join you for you
annual veterans training conference.

And I mean that sincerely, never mind what you may have been reading or
hearing about whats going on with VETS.

I have been an advocate for veterans most of my adult life. And I
sincerely believe that all those experiences were preparing me for the
assignment President Bush has given me.

I am proud to be the assistant secretary of the Veterans
Employment and Training Service in 2002.

Working together, we have a distinct but limited window of opportunity
to build a better employment and training system that will provide 21st century
services to 21st century veterans.

When Joe Andry invited me to participate in this conference, I knew it
would be an opportunity to give you an update on legislative and program
activities. And theres a lot going on.

But more importantly, it would give me the opportunity to listen and
learn from our most important partners; the men and women who serve veterans
where they live and work; men and women whose dedication to their work is the
critical ingredient to helping veterans find quality employment.

You are on the front lines of service delivery for veterans seeking
employment and training assistance.

You get the job done day in and day out. You know your mission.
You are committed to your mission. You live your mission
everyday.

I want to express my sincere thanks to all of you for helping VETS work
to the benefit of veterans.

I want to extend a special thanks to Ray Pryor for his exceptional work
in helping make Ohios certification and licensing pilot project a
success. We have learned valuable best practices from this program.
What you have accomplished in Ohio will help us build similar programs
in other states.

It gives added meaning to the old political phrase As Ohio goes,
so goes the nation.

Without your dedicated service, we could not fulfill our national
mandate to provide our veterans with the programs and services they so richly
deserve.

I want to take a few minutes to give you my vision of how we can work
with you to make that relationship stronger.

The dedicated men and women who have served in our armed forces have
given to this nation a high level of service as they have stood freedom's watch
around the world.

In return, this nation must strive to provide them with the rights and
benefits as well as the programs and services they have so proudly earned.

This means the best training for quality careers with excellent pay and
benefits for veterans and their families.

intend to make judicious and effective use of all our resources,
involving all our stakeholders in all aspects of the agency 's mission, and
modernize and make the agency's operations, regulations, and programs more
responsive to the needs of veterans.

It will be my goal to keep the lines of communication open with our
state partners so that together we can form the cornerstone of a quality
service delivery system.

Finally, I intend to be candid and responsive to all our
constituencies.

This philosophy mirrors the principles that have guided me throughout my
professional career of serving America's most deserving citizens: veterans and
their families.

I believe every veteran who looks to the public employment service
system to find a good job deserves to have a better life.

Now let me share with you my priorities for 2002, priorities that I have
shared with every member of VETS staff.

VETS will become a better partner with the states by focusing on
outreach and technical assistance.

In short, I intend to take the coach approach.

At the top of my 10 most wanted list is developing and
fostering a climate of trust and confidence between states and VETS field
staff, particularly in terms of transparency, meaningful partnering, and prompt
action in response to state concerns.

I intend that VETS extend its full cooperation with our state partners
to resolve reporting issues and in implementing new state performance
measures.

In particular, I desire to see a focused effort to negotiate more
accurate and reasonable standards that take into account the new states
reporting systems and environmental conditions.

In no way do I believe that one standard or measure or way of doing
business fits the realities of every state.

We must become more sensitive to the particular needs of each state and
the citizens it serves and work with you to ensure that our programs best meet
the needs of your veterans.

I cannot emphasize to you too strongly that I firmly believe that the
quality of the VETS/state relationship bears directly on the quality of
programs and services that we can provide to our nations veterans.

Next month, VETS will be holding a national training conference in
Denver. I intend to use that venue to remind all our staff that we are
doing business in new and better ways.

So what does this mean for VETS in the long run?

As we all know, the future is not yet decided.

One of the ways we are looking to improve the quality and delivery of
employment and training programs is contained in the President's fiscal year
2003 budget.

It would transfer funding for the Disabled Veterans Outreach Program,
the Local Veterans Employment Representatives, and the Homeless Veterans
Reintegration Project grants from the Department of Labor to the Department of
Veterans Affairs.

This transfer as part of the President's overall strategy to better
serve citizens by increasing the effectiveness and accountability of all
government programs. It is designed to reduce duplication of effort and
strengthen these services to veterans by putting them all under the roof of an
agency devoted to addressing the needs of veterans.

The Administrations proposal reflects the core principles of
competitive, performance-based funding as the best way to improve services to
veterans.

We have been in continuous coordination on this initiative since last
December with assistance from the Office of Management and Budget.

I expect the Administrations bill to be submitted soon.

The House Veterans Affairs Committee has also prepared a bill  HR
4015.

Both proposals are focused on the same goal: to remove the
legislative roadblocks that have tied veterans employment and training programs
and services to the past.

Thats why I am confident that the process which we have embarked
on will yield positive results which will benefit veterans for years to
come.

I believe that when we have the benefit of discussing each of the
proposals, when all options are considered, veterans will, in the end,
benefit.

But no matter how this legislative proposal plays out in the coming
months, VETS has an important mission to carry out this year, right now, for
every veteran seeking employment and training services.

Thats where you come in.

I need to hear from you on all issues of mutual concern.

It is through clear, candid, and continuous dialogue that we will
improve our working relationships, develop better programs and services, and
thereby better serve all Americas veterans.

It is a major challenge but one from which we must not retreat.

With your prayers and your active involvement, I know we will
succeed.